Monthly Archives: September 2017

09.25.17
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Picture Day!

Finally! A post from this blog. Mak was supposed to be keeping the place up, but I don’t think he has been here in a while. Cobwebs and dust bunnies all over the place…

I eventually got the boat I have mentioned in earlier posts and comments restored to the point it can be taken out. We have had a ball with it, It is truly a pleasure to go for a boat ride on Ky. Lake, especially in a boat you brought back from the dead. I took my digiscoping rig (An Orion ED 80 Apochromatic telescope and a lightweight digital camera) with me the last time we went out, hoping for some good wildlife shots, but I soon discovered the boat itself is a terrible platform for taking pics, no matter how solid and stable the boat is, if there is more than a ripple in the water the image in my magnified picture taking view looks like we are out to sea in 20 foot waves. One of those “it seemed like a good idea” moments. I also discovered that the annual migration of the pelicans had either already taken place, or I was early. Darn it.

It was hot, probably around 92 degrees and humid. So every time the boat came to rest the heat immediately slapped us in the face. The water was down too making it difficult to get around. There are hundreds of shallow bars and underwater obstacles to be wary of, it pays to know your way around.

Anyway I tried to get a pic from the boat, that wasn’t happening, so I just grabbed the tripod, scope and all, and set it down at waters edge to get a few pics. First up is a pair of gulls. Note the exposed bar they are standing on is usually under 3-4 feet of water in summer months.

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This one I suspect is an Egret?

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This one highlights the low water danger. It is obvious the stumps on the shallow bar, my trained eye sees that you do not want to get anywhere near it. The shallow water goes well beyond what you can see. I have seen guys lose their lower units from their boat motors from these kinds of places, or knock the entire back end of the boat out because they did not understand the lay of the land and go running around with wide open throttles. Dumbasses…

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This one a Great Blue Heron standing on a point jutting out into the water. Note the ripples indicating shallow water well beyond the heron.

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This one a lonely Cypress with some gulls for company. That’s all of my river shots for today, but can you imagine this scenery being the place you worked for 3 decades? I was the luckiest guy…

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This next one, being an old pot smoker from days gone by, I got a whimsical chuckle from this sign.

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Sun Dog!

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Guess what? Another Sun Dog! Certainly less spectacular, but a sun dog nonetheless.

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This one is a result of my strange eye. I saw the reflection of the “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” thing reflected across the side of this red truck. You can see my forearm and legs there, and the front wheel of the car in the reflection too. Also I had no idea anyone was in the truck when I took the pic! You can see their fingers in the shot. They probably thought me a weirdo, they could be right…

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This was a bright cloud that caught my attention.

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A foggy sunrise. Almost looks like it is hovering over the field.

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This one, we went to the Kroger, I parked next to this truck. Had to get the pic. If you can’t read the sticker in the window it says “Resist Democrats” “Resist Lying Media” The Trump sign speaks for itself, and the owner of the vehicle. You know, what you can’t see here, I got a good look, the guys truck was literally painted in places with a rattle can. This guy is not exactly living the Republican dream, but he is living the delusion for sure. (I assume it was guy. Probably a pussy grabber!)

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A Tennessee sunset.

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This is a new moon (just above the dark cloud) from a few days ago. The iphone did not care for the low light, it is a crappy pic, but here it is anyway!

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This is the last one. A lonely bunch of Black Eyed Susans with the ready to harvest corn as a backdrop. I saw this and realized the corn would be gone soon, and the pic impossible afterward. Fall is upon us. This would be one tough puzzle!

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That’s it for this one, hope you enjoyed. I’ll see you guys and gals soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

09.01.17
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Damn You Harvey!

I know I have no place to complain with the many thousands homeless, many missing, and several dead already with this storm. The tragedy of its entirety has yet to be understood. I am sure it will be historic when it all gets sorted out. Probably already is. My heart goes out to all affected by this storm.

And we were just affected. Not to the extreme of most, we just got the remnants of the hurricane, but wow what a ride we had last night. Heavy downpours, tornados to our east, and the wind was really whipping. I slept as best I could through it, but about the time you thought it would ease up it came back just as ferocious as before. We could hear things banging and clanging and the occaisional snapping of wood out there, no one dared go look in the dark. The power predictably went out. (just got it back maybe 30 min ago)

First thing I saw this morning a tree across the street was down. But our damage was limited to a few shingles, a lot of tree debris, and then one of the boys had me go look at the shop. A tree lost a large limb that caved the roof of the shop in. Damn. (And my homeowners ins, does not cover outbuildings)

I got busy with getting the coffee on, which means digging around for the little propane camp stove and getting it going. Also forgot to fill a few buckets with water before the storm, when you lose power out in the country you need water on standby to flush a toilet because the well runs off of electricity. So I had one of the boys help me gather 4 buckets of water from the now swollen pond. Then I stretched out an extension cord from the car to the house. I have a small inverter that makes a little bit of 110 power from the car battery, so we could get television enough to see what was going on in the world.

Then about that time Vanderbilt called, we had an appointment to make today, they called to let us know that they were flooded. So no taking the wife to the neurologist. We were about to call them and cancel anyway, but it’s just freaky when they call you, because they were flooded…

Well as I mentioned the power is back. The wife is pleased that she can get a shower. So am I actually. We can only be thankful that things are manageable. We will get through this with little difficulty. I only wish the same could be said for all those from Houston to Nashville and beyond.

Hope all is well with all of you.